Specialist schools
Specialist schools are an important part of the Government's plans to raise standards in secondary education. They outperform non-specialist schools by almost ten percent, even tough their intake of ability is similar.
Any maintained secondary school in England can apply to be a specialist school, and indeed nearly 90% of state secondary schools are now specialist schools. This means that they receive extra funding to develop one or two subjects in which the school specialises. The subjects available are:
- arts (performing, visual or media)
- business and enterprise
- engineering
- humanities
- language
- mathematics and computing
- music
- science
- technology.
Specialist schools meet full National Curriculum requirements but have a particular focus on the chosen specialisms.
Funding
Specialist schools work in partnership with private sector sponsors and with additional Government funding to establish distinctive identities through their chosen specialisms and raise their standards. They create a four-year development plan and must raise £50,000 worth of sponsorship from the private sector. In return, they will receive a Government grant of £100,000 along with additional money per student (£129) for the four-year development plan. This amounts to approximately £600,000 for an average-sized school. This means that any employer donation is increased by the Government by 1,200%.
Find out more
- Visit the page on Financial and in-kind support, which contains information about specialist schools and links to information on where to start.
- The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) has lead responsibility for delivering this initiative. The trust is an independent, not-for-profit organisation and charity dedicated to raising levels of achievement in secondary education.